It is often desirable to mount removable devices at the muzzle of a firearm, such as a suppressor. A suppressor is a device attached to the barrel of a firearm that reduces the amount of noise and also usually the amount of muzzle flash generated by firing the weapon. A suppressor is usually a metal cylinder with internal mechanisms such as baffles to reduce the sound of firing by slowing the escaping propellant gas and sometimes by reducing the velocity of the bullet. The suppressor is typically a hollow cylindrical piece of machined metal (steel, aluminum, or titanium) containing expansion chambers that attaches to the muzzle of a pistol, submachine gun or rifle. These “can”-type suppressors may be attached to and detached from various firearms.
A conventional muzzle mounted accessory, such as a suppressor, may be internally threaded to engage a threaded end of a firearm barrel. This has the disadvantage of being slow to mount and dismount, which is a serious concern in military and law enforcement contexts. Friction-type attachments that rely solely on threads also can loosen because there is no mechanical lock; only friction prevents the attachment from unscrewing from the firearm. A loose suppressor can result in bullet strikes on the baffles because the baffles are not axially registered with the bore of the barrel. Barrel strikes cause inaccuracy, present safety problems, and decrease equipment durability.
The use of coarser threads can improve the mounting and dismounting speed, but coarser threads are even more prone to loosening caused by the mechanical impulse of firing, as well as thermal stresses and changes during use.
Other prior art suppressor mounts provide quicker disconnection, but suffer other disadvantages such as inadequate repeatable precision of alignment (which generates shooting inaccuracy), complexity and cost of manufacture, and durability. For example, fine tooth ratchet systems tend to wear out rapidly and can loosen during use. The small locking teeth can fill with debris or become worn to the point they no longer work. Also, the ratchet teeth cannot always perfectly align and must be backed off to enable locking, which makes the attachment loose on the firearm. In addition, an approach including a pivotable pawl with 2 or 3 teeth on the suppressor, and a toothed ring on a muzzle device prevents unintended loosening, except that the pawl is vulnerable to significant wear and failure, resulting in serious suppressor baffle strikes. The wear occurs because the pawl always engages the same teeth on the toothed ring, resulting in asymmetrical wear of those teeth.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved firearm suppressor mounting device that resists wear and ensures a suppressor will not loosen during normal operation of the firearm. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the firearm suppressor mounting device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of resisting wear and ensuring a suppressor will not loosen during normal operation of the firearm.